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Saturday, November 15, 2008

Would Marquette Do This?

“It’s disgraceful and appalling,” said Boston College graduate C.J. Doyle, who runs the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. “This is just one more example of the university’s callous contempt for Catholic sensibilities and its complete indifference to what remains of its Catholic identity.”

“It’s just not appropriate,” said Maura Orrell of Quincy, as she surveyed the rhinestone- and glitter-covered Boston College sweatshirts, hanging just past the candy-colored Miracle bras.

“It’s really tacky,” added Marcia, a “50-ish” auditor from Boston.

Since July, Victoria’s Secret stores have been selling university-themed clothing from 33 schools with strong name recognition. The Collegiate Licensing Co. is a partner and has arranged for some of the revenue to get passed on to the schools.

The universities of Minnesota and North Carolina have already pulled out of the deal, in part because they did not want their brand associated with the retailer.

“There is no way that we want that (BC) logo to be interpreted as ‘We OK the sexualization of women,’ ” said Sharlene Hesse-Biber, director of the Women’s Studies Center at Boston College, about the products.

Forgot to say in my last comment that Victoria's Secret is about as far from a "trashy" lingerie store as you can get. It's a bit less English-traditional than it was in the past, but still a very, very different atmosphere from, say, Frederick's.